Supporter.



No. 743,862. PATENTED NIT-v.10, 1903. P. E. GRIFFITH.

SUPPORTER. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 26, 1903.

H0 MODEL.

Unu'rno STATES Y .ATEN-T Patented November 10, 1903.

riucn.

SUPPORTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 743,862, dated November10, 1903.

v Applioationfiled March 28. 1908. Serialhlo. 149,621. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known thatLFRnDnRIoK E. GRIFFITH, a citizen of the United States,residing at Oranston, in the county of Providence and State of RhodeIsland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Supporters,of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to supporters for wearing-apparel,particularly tosupporting means for drawers or other undergarments, and has for itspurpose a ready, cheap, and effective means for attaining the end soughtin aform applicable to either trousers or belts and se cure againstaccidental-disengagement.

To the above ends my invention consists in the novel construction andcombination of parts hereinafter described, and illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, wherein like reference-letters indicate likeparts throughout the views.

Figure l is a front elevation of my new supporter; Fig. 2, an edge viewof the same; Fig. 3, a similar View showing the supporter engagingtrousers and drawers; Fig. 4, a rear view of my device; and Figs. 5 and6, front and edge elevations, respectively, of a modified form ofsupporter.

My device, as shown in the drawings, is preferably composed of a-singlepiece of metallic wire or stock bent into the following shape: One endof the wire is pointed to form a horizontal pin-tongue a. The other endof the wire is bent to form a broad upwardlydirected catch b,adapted toengage the tongue oint. The wire continues from the catch and the tongueupwardly and inwardly, forming the inclined posts 0 and (1,respectively. The inclination of the latter materially increases thetension of the pin-tongue, while the formof the post c balances thestrain upon the catch and affords a surface upon which the free bluntwire end a of the catch 12 may abut to escape interference with thecontiguous fabric. The posts 0 and 01 continue upwardly and outwardly toan equal height and breadth, and the remaining stock is then foldeddownwardly toward and upon the same side as the catch, forming a lip m.This lip lies in a plane substantially parallel to the posts; but I findit advantageous to bend the lower margin n of the lip slightly inward atan obtuse angle along a portion of the length, as I find it assists toprevent accidental disengagement of the fabric from the lip.

It will be noted that the lip m and the upper parts of the posts areflattened, so that comparatively broad opposing engaging faces areobtained in connection with a wire structure, said faces securing abetter engagement with the article from which the device is suspended.If desired, the lip maybe formed of a bent sheet of metalm, having adownwardlyinclined margin 71, joined to the posts 0 and d by solderingor otherwise suitably attaching it thereto without departing from thespirit of my invention. (See Figs. 5 and 6.) It will also be seen thatin this modified form broad bearing-faces are obtained in the dependinglip and the coacting portion of the device. Moreover, in both forms thefree ends of the lips are spaced some distance from the posts, as shownin Figs. 2 and 6, thus forming contracted throats that permit the entryof the article engaged, but clamp said article securely to preventaccidental displacement.

The method of employing my device is shown in Fig. 3, wherein 0represents a belt, trousers, or other outer garment, and s the drawareor inner garment. The pin-tongue a ongages the garment .9, while the lipm embraces the garment 0. Both garments may be elevated and depressedsimultaneously without accidentai disengagement. It will be noted thatthe bearing-points of my device upon the outer garment are upon theextremities of the former and at points so remote from each other thatthe entire device normally re-.

pin located at the lower end of one post, a

catch for the pin arranged upon the lower end of the other post, and adownwardly-extending lip connecting the upper ends of the posts andhaving its lower free portion extending inwardly at an obtuse angle andspaced from but coacting with the posts to form a contractedentrance-throat in which the article engaged will be clamped.

2. As a new article of manufacture, a garment-supporter consisting ofspaced wire posts bowed inwardly and having all portions located out ofparallelism, the lower end of one post being formed into an integral pinextending across the space between them, the corresponding end of theother post being formed into an integral catch for the pin, and

